Nintendo: No Wii U price cut in the works

Declining sales projections don't mean cheaper hardware anytime soon.

Since Nintendo announced yesterday that it is cutting back Wii U sales projections, some consumers began to wonder if the system, which currently starts at $300, would see a price cut sooner rather than later. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata threw cold water on those hopes today, telling investors that such a price cut would not be forthcoming.

"With Wii U, we have taken a rather resolute stance in pricing it below its manufacturing cost, so we are not planning to perform a markdown," Iwata said in translated remarks. "I would like to make this point absolutely clear. We are putting our lessons from Nintendo 3DS to good use, as I have already publicly stated. However, given that it has now become clear that we have not yet fully communicated the value of our product, we will try to do so before the software lineup is enhanced and at the same time work to enrich the software lineup which could make consumers understand the appeal of Wii U." (Links added for context.)

Translated from corporate speak, the message is clear: "The Wii U isn't too expensive, we just haven't done a good job convincing enough people why it's worth the price."

Sales data provided by Nintendo shows that after peaking at launch, Wii U sales have fallen precipitously worldwide. The system is already selling similarly to the years-old PS3 in the Japanese market, and it is well below its older competition in the US and Europe (the latter of which "lost momentum fastest"). Iwata admitted Nintendo was "unable to incite enough excitement in society," causing the Wii U to "[fail] to maintain its momentum after the turn of the year." Iwata also blamed recent software delays for the lack of sales momentum in 2013.

While Iwata admitted that the Wii U is not as instantly understandable as the Wii and its motion-sensitive remote, he expressed hope that "its value by nature is something that takes time to appreciate and hence cannot be spread amongst society instantly." He also said the company is "confident that [the Wii U] will have high sales potential once [it is] familiar to more consumers.... People always try to compare the sales of Wii U with that of Wii, but the current situation is requiring us to focus upon how to re-energize Wii U sales irrespective of any comparisons with the previous platforms."

The situation is somewhat better for the Nintendo 3DS, which is a dominant market leader in Japan, but Iwata said sales for the system are below targets in the US and Europe. "In the [US and European] markets, Nintendo 3DS has not yet solved its chicken-and-egg problem as a platform," he said. "To put it another way, we do not yet have a virtuous cycle where hardware sales and software sales drive one another. Because of this, our lineup lacks diversity, and as a result, Nintendo 3DS does not have as wide and diverse an appeal as Nintendo DS."

Iwata also revealed that 74 percent of Wii U owners have connected the system to Nintendo's online network, a massive increase from previous Nintendo hardware. Nintendo will soon be reaching out to developers to make apps and games that work on the Wii U through open standards like HTML5, Javascript, and Unity, Iwata added.

It is true they have not effectively communicated the value proposition of the device to consumers and generated excitement for the product.

Unfortunately, the question remains whether it is a lack of communication, or if to many users the value proposition simply does not exist yet. The OS updates to enhance utility and software (games and apps) that come out over the next few months will be providing the answer one way or another.

(Not to knock the system, obviously there are millions of people out there who do feel the device is worth its asking price)

I would like a HD version of the Wii and might eventually buy a Wii U in the future but I really do think they made a major design mistake with the controller.

The Wii was brilliant in that it appealed to both the younger and older generation. The Wii U only appeals to the younger generation with their young eyes that are capable of focusing on near and far objects without glasses.

I'm approaching 50 and my eyes do not allow me to focus on the big screen and then shift to the small screen controller and back to the big screen again. It's a bad user interface for older eyes.

Understandable, as it's a 3 months old console and is selling at a loss already. I expect a price-cut if the console is not selling well enough by next year. Meanwhile they may just bundle it with more games by sumer or fall. By that time, the console may also have enough games to attract more sales, so it may not even be an issue.

I'm about the biggest die-hard dedicated console/handheld fan around, so please keep that in mind while reading the below. I bought both the original Wii and 3DS at midnight launches. I'm not about to sound the death knell of the home console or anything like a lot of analysts have been doing. I will, however, say that the Wii U was a pretty large design misstep in an industry that is cross-competing with the tablet market.

The Wii was a runaway success because it was new and appealed to a lot of people. You didn't need to learn fancy button combos to jump right in with the prepackaged Wii Sports, you just swung your arm like the controller was a tennis racket and your funny little man on the TV matched your movements. It might not seem like a lot, but to a lot of the older generation that didn't grow up playing games this was a huge revolution.

The Wii U tried to be similarly revolutionary with the tablet-style controller, but it falls flat. A lot of the features just aren't nearly as appealing as motion-control was, however limited. Playing games on a touchscreen isn't particularly revolutionary, since even before the advent of iPads and other tablets the DS supported touch control. Displaying information on two screens is likewise cribbed from the DS's playbook. Sure, you can play games on the controller while someone else is watching TV, a feature that personally I think is cool as hell, but a lot of non-savvy people are going to see that and think "So what? I can play Generic Tower Defense 3 and Boring Physics Puzzler 2 on my iPad while the kids are watching TV anyways."

It just feels like Nintendo missed the boat here, and they're going to need an almost unprecedented amount of software support to keep up. I've thought this way about the system since the initial feature reveal, but the lackluster holiday season kind of confirms my suspicions.

On a scale from "Hat" to "Heart Transplant", how hard is it to upgrade from the Wii?

The "value proposition" should be coming from Nintendo Fans, who were delighted with their Wii experience, bought a U on the first day, and minutes later were enjoying their new console. Those fans would tell and invite others to join in on exciting new multiplayer experiences, and press forward the brand.

Nah, instead concentrate on having an "App Store" that doesn't remember or redownload anything you've purchased, a Cloud Login that doesn't deauthorize your old system while pulling a game to the new one. Just make the transfer process as smooth as copying a disk on a 128k Mac, but making sure that ACID principles apply to the deletion rather than the preservation of bits.

I'm approaching 50 and my eyes do not allow me to focus on the big screen and then shift to the small screen controller and back to the big screen again. It's a bad user interface for older eyes.

Hi. I'm 47 with severe presbyopia. Get some half moon reading glasses and position them half way down your nose. I'm on the iPad when watching anything on TV all the time. Same situation. Works great. :-)

The last Nintendo console alienated me as a gamer about their "seriousness" as a gaming platform.

I like my AAA titles packed with production value, polish and eye candy. I'm already ready for the next generation of consoles and won't consider a Wii U because it's a marginal improvement over the 360/PS3.

On a scale from "Hat" to "Heart Transplant", how hard is it to upgrade from the Wii?

The "value proposition" should be coming from Nintendo Fans, who were delighted with their Wii experience, bought a U on the first day, and minutes later were enjoying their new console. Those fans would tell and invite others to join in on exciting new multiplayer experiences, and press forward the brand.

Nah, instead concentrate on having an "App Store" that doesn't remember or redownload anything you've purchased, a Cloud Login that doesn't deauthorize your old system while pulling a game to the new one. Just make the transfer process as smooth as copying a disk on a 128k Mac, but making sure that ACID principles apply to the deletion rather than the preservation of bits.

If you have anything like Kyel's Experience then Its a putting on a hat. While undergoing a heart transplant.

Translated from corporate speak, the message is clear: "The Wii U isn't too expensive, we just haven't done a good job convincing enough people why it's worth the price."

Well, it's exactly what I said when pricing was officially announced. The price is fine, but a game console with no games isn't of much use to me, convince me I want one, big N. I think Nintendo is also running into lots of folks like me that are on the fence because Sony and Microsoft are just on the cusp of releasing new hardware themselves (and they've been burned before as an early adopter - I'll never leave you faithful Dreamcast).

Also, there's never been a better time to pick up a PS3 or 360 given that there are years of AAA exclusive titles for both systems at rock bottom prices along with all kinds of deals on the hardware to play the games. One example is the God of War Saga for $40. You get God of War 1, 2, 3 and the two PSP titles remastered for PS3. That's only $8 a game for a series with a sterling reputation from consumers and critics alike. I bought my nephew a 250GB PS3 with Uncharted 3, Dust 514 beta, and the God of War Saga for just a tad over $300 last Christmas - that's a console with 7 games (6 of them being AAA top notch titles) for less than the cost of the high end Wii U bundle. And there are plenty of packs like this for both the PS3 and 360. There's also some deals to be had for the Wii and its top titles.

Nintendo needs some killer apps along with killer third party support. And if I jump in early, and Microsoft and Sony release consoles that dwarf the Wii U in power. The Wii U will end up like the Wii is now, where often times when a game is ported, it's only a shadow of what the game is like on Sony and Microsoft's hardware. So, on my fence I'll stay.

Sure, you can play games on the controller while someone else is watching TV, a feature that personally I think is cool as hell, but a lot of non-savvy people are going to see that and think "So what? I can play Generic Tower Defense 3 and Boring Physics Puzzler 2 on my iPad while the kids are watching TV anyways."

I don't own one but this is the coolest part of the console to me. I haven't really seen Nintendo advertise it though; they seem to try and blow our minds with asynchronous gameplay instead but I don't think that's implemented in a way that makes anyone say 'Wow'.

Anyways, regarding a pricecut I don't expect them to announce one. Just like they denied 3DS XL during E3 conference but bam there it is on Nintendo Direct days after their conference.

It would be cool if there were some games released for the Wii-u, other than the launch games. Our Wii-U is literally sitting next to the xbox 360 and unplugged. We may play it once or twice a month for an hour or two. There just isn't any family games available for it outside of SMB-U and Nintendo Land.

I don't want a Wii-U. A graphical upgrade might be nice, but I dislike the design of the new controller (I've always hated dual-analogs). Also there's the price. I'll stick to my PC and occasionally grab old wii games when they come cheap (still want Xenoblade).

... I will, however, say that the Wii U was a pretty large design misstep...

The Wii U tried to be similarly revolutionary with the tablet-style controller, but it falls flat....

The proof is in the pudding Ryoshi, the WiiU is just the hardware, it's the software that makes it shine. Try playing ZombiU for yourself for an hour and you will hopefully understand what can be done with the GamePad. There's some huge potential there.

Then play Nintendoland with 4 friends, chances are you will all be laughing with joy in about 10 minutes. It sounds silly but that's all that counts at the end of the day.

To me, the WiiU looks like a good system at a good price, but I'm not going to buy it simply because I already have a glut of high quality games to play on other systems. Most notably, the PC always has a steady stream of high-quality games being released, many of which can be played with a gamepad and a TV screen - making it feel just like a console.

I think it's great that the WiiU is offering new features that aren't available on PC or on other consoles, but I just don't feel like I need any new features right now. I have enough - for now.

If I may agree and expand on that, I don't want one yet. It's an agreeable price and since I don't expect to buy any titles coming out until much later this year or later, I haven't bought in yet.

I agree. You need to have at least 10 really good games before a platform is actually worth buying into. Right now, there's what, one, two?

What I think is most interesting about this is that it goes to show just how important Wii Sports was. I remember back in the day that SMB (the original) was a pack in with the original Nintendo; it seems a bit insane NOT to have a killer app pack-in game. Maybe I'm just crazy...

I think the tablet controller is actually something special. We've only seen hints of what can be done with it thus far, and it's not as approachable as the Wiimote. But unlike the original Wiimote, it actually a) works as advertised from day one and b) has the same basic button layout as competing systems, allowing for easier porting. It also allows for all kinds of new gameplay mechanics for those developers who take the time to make use of it.

I'd say it's too early to tell whether it will do well long-term. It's certainly experiencing a software drought, and I'd argue that it didn't have any "must play" launch titles, either. But that stuff is coming. There are plenty of great titles in development and some of them will be here by the end of the year. They will also have had a year's head start to work out software issues and prepare the second generation of games before Sony and Microsoft launch their systems. And who knows, just because a price drop isn't on the cards in January doesn't mean it won't be in September once Microsoft and Sony have shown their hands.

As a Wii U owner and someone who grew up with Nintendo, I certainly hope they can make it work. They make some great software, and I appreciate their willingness to experiment with new ways to interact with games even if it doesn't always pay off.

If I may agree and expand on that, I don't want one yet. It's an agreeable price and since I don't expect to buy any titles coming out until much later this year or later, I haven't bought in yet.

I agree. You need to have at least 10 really good games before a platform is actually worth buying into. Right now, there's what, one, two?

What I think is most interesting about this is that it goes to show just how important Wii Sports was. I remember back in the day that SMB (the original) was a pack in with the original Nintendo; it seems a bit insane NOT to have a killer app pack-in game. Maybe I'm just crazy...

I'm a little shocked to read that - they're NOT bundling software with the Wii U? I assumed it came with a Mario game or something.

Nintendo, here is a free idea: for a limited time, offer Wii U owners free access to 10-20 "legendary" games - I believe that is the term Nintendo uses for old, pre-Wii games - and let people go at it. Hell, for $300 even I might pick up a Wii U if it came with scaled up versions of old Mario Karts, Bond 64, original Donkey Kongs, and NES-era Zelda games. It would cost the company nothing and engender a lot of good will at a time they desperately need it.

And whoever decided it was OK to release a 2013-era console with 8GB of storage - with 32GB being the max available - needed to be fired before that decision was made. For God's sakes, the original PS3 launched with more storage than that - seven years ago!

we just haven't done a good job convincing enough people why it's worth the price

They haven't even done a good job informing people of what it IS. A big part of the "non-gamer" audience that they reached with the Wii thinks that the WiiU is just a new controller for the Wii

Yep, that was the case for my mom -- she heard about the 'new Wii accessory', and she wanted to buy it for my sons. She had no idea until I explained it to her that it wasn't a new controller, but a completely new game system.

They'll be singing this song right up until the day the price cut hits.

Well of course. Would you buy a product now if you knew that just 30 days down the line it would cost you 15% or so less for that same product, just by exhibiting a bit of patience? All announcing a price drop well in advance of the actual shift serves to do is kill off current sales.

If I may agree and expand on that, I don't want one yet. It's an agreeable price and since I don't expect to buy any titles coming out until much later this year or later, I haven't bought in yet.

I agree. You need to have at least 10 really good games before a platform is actually worth buying into. Right now, there's what, one, two?

What I think is most interesting about this is that it goes to show just how important Wii Sports was. I remember back in the day that SMB (the original) was a pack in with the original Nintendo; it seems a bit insane NOT to have a killer app pack-in game. Maybe I'm just crazy...

I'm a little shocked to read that - they're NOT bundling software with the Wii U? I assumed it came with a Mario game or something.

Nintendo, here is a free idea: for a limited time, offer Wii U owners free access to 10-20 "legendary" games - I believe that is the term Nintendo uses for old, pre-Wii games - and let people go at it. Hell, for $300 even I might pick up a Wii U if it came with scaled up versions of old Mario Karts, Bond 64, original Donkey Kongs, and NES-era Zelda games. It would cost the company nothing and engender a lot of good will at a time they desperately need it.

And whoever decided it was OK to release a 2013-era console with 8GB of storage - with 32GB being the max available - needed to be fired before that decision was made. For God's sakes, the original PS3 launched with more storage than that - seven years ago!

The deluxe version comes with Nintendoland, but the basic $300 version comes with diddly. I have no idea why the pack in doesn't come with the base system, as I cannot imagine anyone buying it separately. I'm sure someone WILL at some point, but...

we have not yet fully communicated the value of our product, we will try to do so before the software lineup is enhanced

Except that ... the software lineup is the value!

Are they really expecting to repeat the novelty-item status that made the Wii a hit at launch? The WiiU may have many things going for it as a console, but novelty isn't one of them - playing games on a touchscreen is old news.

If I may agree and expand on that, I don't want one yet. It's an agreeable price and since I don't expect to buy any titles coming out until much later this year or later, I haven't bought in yet.

I agree. You need to have at least 10 really good games before a platform is actually worth buying into. Right now, there's what, one, two?

What I think is most interesting about this is that it goes to show just how important Wii Sports was. I remember back in the day that SMB (the original) was a pack in with the original Nintendo; it seems a bit insane NOT to have a killer app pack-in game. Maybe I'm just crazy...

I'm a little shocked to read that - they're NOT bundling software with the Wii U? I assumed it came with a Mario game or something.

Nintendo, here is a free idea: for a limited time, offer Wii U owners free access to 10-20 "legendary" games - I believe that is the term Nintendo uses for old, pre-Wii games - and let people go at it. Hell, for $300 even I might pick up a Wii U if it came with scaled up versions of old Mario Karts, Bond 64, original Donkey Kongs, and NES-era Zelda games. It would cost the company nothing and engender a lot of good will at a time they desperately need it.

And whoever decided it was OK to release a 2013-era console with 8GB of storage - with 32GB being the max available - needed to be fired before that decision was made. For God's sakes, the original PS3 launched with more storage than that - seven years ago!

Deluxe set comes with Nintendo Land at least. We'll probably never see a GoldenEye 64 re-release ever. Since Rare is owned by MS, and the Bond License is currently held by Activision.

Nintendo also likes to trickle out their Virtual Console games out slowly for some reason. Why they can't ever release more than 1 a week is beyond me.

I have a friend who bought one and I must say I really do like it. Nintendo did an amazing job of bringing the evolving aspects of social media to the video game platform far better than either PS3 or Xbox360 have been able to do. The controller is the natural evolution of the Sega Dreamcast controller, etc.

But there is one deal breaker for me that will absolutely keep me from ever buying one: backwards compatibility. The Wii was amazing because you could use so many controller configurations, including Gamecube controllers. All that is gone with the Wii U. Sure you can play Wii games and use the Wii Classic controller but for some people there is just no other way to play Smash Bros. than a Wavebird (amirigh?) Similar problem with classic games from the Wii Store. It was easy to get 5 player bomberman going with all the Gamecube controllers lying around and now its just annoying. I don't care how easy the migration of Wii to Wii U is if I can't take my gear with me!

I've yet to see a working playable demo unit here in Hawaii. Would really help to know its value

Seriously?? Go to that Japanese department store in the Ala Moana mall outside Waikiki. You will see tech there that won't reach North America for another 2-3 years. You should CERTAINLY find a working WiiU in there!

(I should temper that with the fact that I am not a Hawaii'an resident, though I wish I was. The gushing above is what I encountered last time I vacationed there, which was a few years ago. They were selling ultramegapixel cameras, BD-Rs, smartphones and portable media stations and car conversion kits at least 2 years before there was a glimmer of them here, even in a major port city like Vancouver.)

Kyle Orland / Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in Pittsburgh, PA.